Montana Small Business Development Center Network Welcomes New State Director

Chad Moore is the new state director of the Montana Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network at the Montana Department of Commerce (DOC). Previously an SBDC business advisor at Big Sky Economic Development (BSED) in Billings, Moore started his new position Oct. 31.

Moore has an extensive background in business development. He has consulted with hundreds of small businesses over his tenure with the SBDC and successfully grew the Business Expansion and Retention resource team at BSED. Chad is a Montana State University graduate and is a certified NxLeveL instructor. He has made a career out of helping businesses understand the marketing landscape, secure capital, train employees and capture expansion incentives.

Q&A with Chad Moore

Q: Under your leadership, how will the Montana SBDC program continue to lead the state in entrepreneurship and small business development?

A: The SBDC will continue to provide business owners and entrepreneurs with opportunities for education and one-on-one business consulting from certified business advisors. We will continue to work on promoting our services throughout Montana to raise awareness among entrepreneurs and business owners of available services.

Q: What are you most looking forward to in your new role? What do you foresee as the biggest challenges?

A: I’m looking forward to working with the amazing staff at the lead center and our regional centers to further promote our services throughout the state.

Although the SBDC has grown and continues to grow in Montana, many business owners and entrepreneurs still don’t know who we are or the services we offer. Program awareness is the greatest opportunity and biggest challenge. Montana’s SBDC will need to continue building and leveraging partnerships across the state to help sustain a viable economy through entrepreneur and small business development.

Q: What is the landscape of entrepreneurship in Montana? How do you foresee SBDC’s role growing with that trend?

A: The Kauffman Foundation has ranked Montana as the No. 1 state for entrepreneurs for the 4th year in a row. Montana’s focus on entrepreneurs and small business development continues to increase year-over-year. Our Small Business Development Centers across Montana continue to have an important role in helping our entrepreneurs and business owners navigate the complex marketplace of an ever-changing economy through certified consultants that offer low-cost training and no-cost business consulting. Our role as the SBDC is to support the trend of small business development and provide the services small businesses need to succeed.

Q: What is the SBDC’s biggest value to entrepreneurs? How has your experience leveraged this value?

A: The value that the SBDC offers to business owners and entrepreneurs is access to one-on-one consulting at no cost as well as low cost training opportunities. The SBDC has access to industry specific market trends that can help forecast financials, show the viability of specific industries and provide insight into building a solid business plan. Our certified consultants offer counseling in financial analysis, business planning, loan packaging, buying an existing business and creating an exit strategy for an existing business. Whether an entrepreneur is in business or looking to start a business, our providers can help.

My experience has allowed me to see the business consultant side of the network and the great work our centers do on a daily basis. Our job at the lead center is to provide support for our consultants and to promote their expertise to entrepreneurs and business owners. My experience helps me understand what they need to be successful.

The Montana SBDC is a cooperative program partnership between the U.S. Small Business Administration and DOC that began in 1989. Over the course of its 26-year history, the Montana SBDC has assisted nearly 27,000 entrepreneurs representing more than 6,000 businesses. The Montana SBDC Lead Center located in Helena oversees administrative operations with satellite offices throughout the state. Montana SBDC’s certified Business Consultants provide one-to-one management advising to small businesses at no cost to clients. For more information, visit sbdc.mt.gov.